Xavier-Thomas Mendoza
Introduction: This project was intended to capture the perspective of Central Michigan University students that also danced during college, either through the university dance team, being a dance minor, or both. The project gives perspective of how dancers are underrated as athletes and the challenges they endure.
Alynne Welch
A diptych of Alma freshman Alynne Welch as she poses for both photos on April 1, 2019. The study photo was shot in the Bovee University Center while the dance photo was shot in the Bush Theatre. Welch is a dance minor as well as a member of Central Michigan University’s Dance Team.
“It’s really frustrating, and that’s how it’s been my entire life is that people that do sports in high school and in university don’t understand that it’s the same commitment and same workload they go through,” Welch said. “Even though it’s not a traditional school sport, dance is still a sport and it takes a lot to do it.”
“I have been dancing for 16 years and when I was 15, I ended up having to get knee injury because of dance when I landed wrong on my knee,” she said. “I had to get my plica band removed, I have permanent bunions on my feet, I have scars from pointe, floor burns, bruises every time I dance, sprained ankles, sprained shoulders.”
Emma McCowan
A diptych of McComb junior Emma McCowan on April 4, 2019. Both photos were taken on the second floor of the Biosciences Building where she said she studies at most as a biomedical science major.
“I like dancing in college, I think it’s great. I’ve been dancing for 17 years,” McCowan said. “It’s good to be able to take dance classes for my grade too because as a dancer, it’s great to be able to keep up with technique and keep body awareness and avoid from injuries to occur.”
“I’ve had tearing in my Achilles’ last year. I was in a boot for three months due to over use,” she said. “I’ve also dislocated my knee when my dance partner at the time dropped me after a lift.”
“I want to be a pediatrist and specialize in sports rehabilitation and then further specialize treating dancers. Dancers have muscles that are more stretched and the exercises general sports rehab gives you don’t get the job done,” McCowan said. “I want to develop stretches and recovery plans for dancers that will get them back to dancing faster especially because when I went to a pediatrist. After I tore my Achilles’ he was moving around my ankle and said, ‘Well you don’t seem injured,’ and I thought, ‘My ankle is also stretched out more than the average person so these stretches don’t do anything.'”
Cassie Scouten
A diptych of Toledo, OH sophomore, Cassie Scouten from photos taken on April 14, 2019. The study photo (left) was taken in Woldt Hall, while the dance photo (right) was taken in Moore Hall.
“I’ve spent so many hours dancing in the studio, I am in the studio all the time. Sometimes I’m there for my free time because I need to be for my dance minor projects,” Scouten said. “I have so many projects I have to do that takes so much time like creating choreography. Then I also have other homework on top of it and I’m exhausted and I want to go to sleep or take a nap but I can’t because it has to be done. Even right now, my ankle is kind of injured and I still have to dance, I still have to put my body through a lot.”
She said in high school she had to stop dancing to keep up her straight As. After that pause, she said she realized how much she missed dancing.
“I was worried about my grades because I was at the studio five days a week, at least four hours a day after school. It was a lot. I had to quit for a little bit then realized how much I missed it,” Scouten said. “But dancing has brought injuries like my hamstrings, ankle, my knee. People lose their toe nail from pointe, I’m lucky I haven’t. My toes are a little bent and your body conforms through dance. When doctors tell me to bend my back down, it looks like I have scoliosis because when I was learning a form incorrectly, I just didn’t do it right. Standing straight up, my x-rays look forward but not when going down.”
Mariah Sterley
A diptych of Olivet, MI senior Mariah Sterley from photos taken on April 17, 2019. Both photos were taken in the Bovee University Center. The left photo shows her with her tap shoes and tap board while the right photo portrays her daily life studying as a student.
“I think the struggles as a dancer and a student is unique for sure but they’re struggles that can relate to anything,” Sterley said. “Like learning how to do your job, learning different things in dance, for classes you have to study, for dance you have to study your technique. There’s an academic portion to dance too and you have to learn different aspects of it. It parallels everything that you do.”
As a dancer, she said something unique that she struggles with is having scoliosis as well as an equilibrium imbalance.
“In the dark I get vertigo. If I close my eyes everything gets very disoriented and I can’t balance,” Sterley said. “Although nothing Tap related, other dance that require head movement is very disorienting. I didn’t realize the equilibrium problem until recently. At least now I’m more aware and I just have to do minor adjustments but I can still do everything everyone else does. Especially in the dark, during performances, I just thought everyone experiences that. But to me, as long as I know what’s around me and I can focus on one part of the room with light.”
Miranda Richards
A diptych of Canton senior Miranda Richards with photos taken on April 22, 2019. The left photo was taken behind Warriner Hall while the right photo was taken in the Music Building.
“My normal day starts with practice at 6 a.m. for the dance team, nap for an hour, ballet class at 9:30 am, shower after that then go to my business classes the rest of the day,” Richards said. “To organize my time management, I have to be really organized and utilize planners.”
Every year, she has missed classes due to the UDA college nationals for the dance team. This year they placed 2nd overall throughout the nation. But the team is still not recognized as an official athletic team.
“It’s upsetting because sometimes our coach wants us to practice and have the same discipline as any other varsity sport so that we could be better recognized within the school,” Richards said. “Everything we do, we have to fundraise or pay for. We go through the school for deals but we have to book everything and we don’t get any money from the school. But even with all that, I don’t regret being part of the team or my experiences at all.”